List of tallest trees

Two main opposing forces affect a tree's height; one pushes it upward while the other holds it down. By analyzing the interplay between these forces, a team of biologists led by George Koch of Northern Arizona University calculated the theoretical maximum tree height or the point at which opposing forces balance out and a tree stops growing. This point lies somewhere between 122 and 130 m (400 and 426 feet)[1]. On the one hand, the researchers found, trees in forests "desire" to grow as tall as possible to overtake neighboring trees and reach stronger sunlight. On the other hand, gravity makes it more and more difficult to haul water upwards from the roots to the canopy as the tree grows, and leaves thus become smaller near the top. They discovered that despite the moistness of the ground far below, the leaves at the treetops struggle to get enough water, so they are effectively living in a constant drought. The difficulty of getting water so far up into the sky is what ultimately constrains growth, suspects Koch's team[2].

The Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is the tallest tree species on earth.

Although giant trees grow in both tropical and temperate regions, they are very restricted geographically and phylogenetically. All the known giant trees occur in mesic climates, but nearly all of them (32 species) are found in three regions: western North America from California to British Columbia, Southeast Asia (especially Borneo) and southeastern Australia (especially Tasmania).

The heights of the tallest trees in the world have been the subject of considerable dispute and much exaggeration. Modern verified measurements with laser rangefinders or with tape drop measurements made by tree climbers (such as those carried out by canopy researchers), have shown that some older tree height measurement methods are often unreliable, sometimes producing exaggerations of 5% to 15% or more above the real height.[3] Historical claims of trees growing to 130 m (430 ft), and even 150 m (490 ft), are now largely disregarded as unreliable, and attributed to human error.

The following are the tallest reliably measured specimens from the top species. This table shows only currently standing specimens:

List of tallest trees by species

Rank	Species	Height		Tree name	Class	Location	Continent	Tallest ever recorded (Meters / Feet)	References
		Meters	Feet
1	Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)	115.92	380.3	Hyperion	Conifer	Redwood National Park, California, United States	Western North America		[4][5]
2	Yellow meranti (Shorea faguetiana)	100.8	331	Menara	Flowering plant	Danum Valley Conservation Area, in Sabah on the island of Borneo	Southeast Asia		[6][7][8]
3	Mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans)	100.5	329.7	Centurion	Flowering plant	Arve Valley, Tasmania, Australia	Southeastern Australia		[9][10][11][12]
4	Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii)	99.7	327	Doerner Fir	Conifer	Brummit Creek, Coos County, Oregon, United States	Western North America		[13][14][15]
5	Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)	96.7	317	Raven's Tower	Conifer	Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California, United States	Western North America		[16][17]
6	Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)	95.7	314		Conifer	Sequoia National Forest, California, United States	Western North America		[18][19]
7	Kashmir Cypress (Cupressus cashmeriana)	94.6	310		Conifer	At the road leading to Kathok Yoesel Samtenling Monastery, Kazhi Gewog, Wangdue Phodrang District, Bhutan	Central-South Asia		[20][21][22][23]
8	Southern blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus)	92	302	Neeminah Loggerale Meena, or Mother and Daughter.	Flowering plant	Tasmania	Southeastern Australia	101 / 331	[24][25][26]
9	Manna gum (Eucalyptus viminalis)	91	299	White Knight	Flowering plant	Evercreech Forest Reserve, Tasmania	Southeastern Australia		[27]
10	Dinizia excelsa	88.5	290		Flowering plant	Near the boundary of Amapa and Para states, Brazil.	Central-Northeastern South America		[28][29] [30]
11	Alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis)	87.9	288		Flowering plant	Tasmania	Southeastern Australia		[25]
12	Noble Fir (Abies procera)	86	282		Conifer	Goat Marsh Research Natural Area, Washington, United States	Western North America	99.06 / 325	[31][32]
13	Brown top stringbark (Eucalyptus obliqua)	86	282	King Stringy	Flowering plant	Tasmania	Southeastern Australia		[33]
14	Mengaris (Koompassia excelsa)	85.76	281.4	Pontiankak Putih Cantik	Flowering plant	Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo	Southeast Asia		[34][35]
15	Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor)	85	279	Stewart Karri	Flowering plant	~20 km west from Manjimup, at Record Brook river – an eastern tributary of Donnelly River, Western Australia, Australia	Southwestern Australia		[36][37]
16	Shorea argentifolia	84.85	278.4		Flowering plant	Gaharu ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.	Southeast Asia		[34][35]
17	Shorea superba	84.41	276.9		Flowering plant	Gergassi Ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.	Southeast Asia		[34][35]
18	Shining gum (Eucalyptus nitens)	84.3	277		Flowering plant	O'Shannassy Catchment, Victoria	Southeastern Australia		[38]
19	Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana)	83.45	273.8		Conifer	near Yosemite National Park, California, United States.	Western North America		[39]
20	Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)	83.34	273.4	Tsunami	Conifer	Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California, United States.	Western North America		[40]
21	Hopea nutans	82.82	271.7		Flowering plant	Gaharu ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.	Southeast Asia		[34][35]
22	Shorea johorensis	82.39	270.3		Flowering plant	Coco-Park boundary of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.	Southeast Asia		[34][35]
23	Shorea smithiana	82.27	269.9		Flowering plant	Coco-Park boundary of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.	Southeast Asia		[34][35]
24	Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)	81.77	268.3	Phalanx	Conifer	in Myers Creek drainage of Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon, United States.	Western North America		[41]
25	Entandrophragma excelsum	81.5	267		Flowering plant	at Kilimanjaro, Tanzania	Eastern Africa		[42]
26	Sydney blue gum (Eucalyptus saligna)	81.5	267		Flowering plant	Woodbush State Forest, Magoebaskloof, Limpopo, South Africa. The world's tallest planted tree.	Southern Africa (non native), but endemic to eastern Australia)		[43][44]
27	Grand fir (Abies grandis)	81.4	267		Conifer	in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, Washington, United States.	Western North America		[45]
28	Shorea gibbosa	81.11	266.1		Flowering plant	River Flats of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.	Southeast Asia		[34][35]
29	Lawson cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)	81.08	266.0		Conifer	In Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California, United States.	Western North America		[46]

Other tree species above 75m

Historical records of giant tree species:

• Corymbia maculata; there is an old reference to a 91.5 metres (300 ft) tall tree.[47] Flowering plant is native to eastern Australia.
• Klinki (Araucaria hunsteinii); 88.9 metres (292 ft) tall tree was measured in Papua New Guinea, New Guinea island, 1941. Conifer tree native to northeastern continent of Australia.
• Eucalyptus pilularis; Blackbutt tree, height 85.3 m (280 ft), girth 17.9 m (59 ft).[48] Flowering plant is native to eastern Australia.

There are also some other very tall tree species with claimed heights of 80 metres (260 ft) and even more:

• Abies nordmanniana; growing up to 80 m (260 ft) in height.[49] In the Western Caucasus Reserve, some specimens have been reported to be 78 m (256 ft) and even 85 m (279 ft) tall,[50] making them the tallest trees in Europe. Conifer is native to Southeastern Europe and Western Asia.
• Allantospermum borneense; tree, to 90 m (300 ft) tall.[51] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Asia.
• Alstonia pneumatophora; the tallest specimen reported (2012) measures 85 metres (279 ft).[52] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Asia.
• Dryobalanops lanceolata; to 80 m (260 ft) tall emergent tree.[53] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Asia.
• Eucalyptus denticulata; sometimes to 90 m (300 ft) high.[54] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Australia.
• Parashorea chinensis; tree up to 80 m (260 ft) tall.[55] Flowering plant native to Eastern Asia.
• Shorea mujongensis; emergent tree up to 82 m (269 ft) tall.[56] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Asia.
• Mexican elm (Ulmus mexicana); it commonly grows from 20 to 40 m height and trunks 1 to 2.5 m in diameter at chest height. But in the rainforests of Nature reserve El Triunfo, Chiapas, southern Mexico, have report a tree 90 m (300 ft) high, by other multiple sourses - trees up to 84 m (276 ft), or 87 m (285 ft) high with stems up to 6 m in diameter.[57][58][59][60] Flowering plant native to Southern North America (including Central America).
• Taiwania cryptomerioides; reported to heights of up to 90 m (300 ft) tall and with a trunk up to 4 m (13 ft) diameter above buttressed base.[61] Conifer native to Eastern Asia.

Very tall tree species nearly 80 metres (260 ft) height:

• Ribbon Gum (Eucalyptus nobilis); 79.9 metres (262 ft).[62] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Australia.
• Eucalyptus deglupta; tallest known living tree 78 metres (256 ft).[63] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Asia.
• Abies magnifica; 76.8 metres (252 ft)[64]. Conifer native to Western North America.
• Dyera costulata; tallest known living tree 76.2 metres (250 ft).[63] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Asia.
• Dryobalanops aromatica; tallest known living tree 76.2 metres (250 ft).[63] Flowering plant native to Southeastern Asia.
• Flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis); 76 metres (249 ft).[62] Flowering plant native to Eastern Australia.

See also

• List of oldest trees
• List of superlative trees

References

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